Wire guide having fluid supply means



April 9, 1968 F. c. HOLMES 3,375,722

WIRE GUIDE HAVING FLUID SUPPLY MEANS Filed July 28, 1964 v 2Sheets-Sheet 1 U m *3 INVENTOR {I I 7 BY N y IHH HW' I 7 WM,

A ril 9, 1968 F. C. HOLMES WIRE GUIDE HAVING FLUID SUPPLY MEANS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 28, 1964 INVENTOR. ZWJZW United States PatentO 3,376,722 WIRE GUIDE HAVIN FLUID SUPPLY MEANS Frank C. Holmes,Trumbull, Conn., assignor to The US. Baird Corporation, Stratford, Conn,a corporation of Connecticut Filed July 28, 1964, Ser. No. 385,712 11Claims. (Cl. 72-43) In US. Patent 3,025,889 which issued Mar. 20, 1962to Murray G. Clay there is disclosed a wire forming machine for formingwire into preselected shapes such as springs. As disclosed in thatpatent, a strand of wire is passed by means of feed rolls into the endof a wire guide (or qui1l). Upon emerging from the quill, the wire isacted upon by wire forming tools in accordance with a predeterminedsequence to form the spring or other acticle desired. The tolerancebetween the outer diameter of the wire and the inner diameter of thequill passage is quite small. This has created certain problems. Forexample, when forming certain types of coated wire, for

example, wire which has been tinned or cadmium coated,

flakes of the coating are often dislodged during passage through thequill. These flakes are apt to jam or clog the wire passage andsometimes reduce the clearance between the wire and the wall of thepassage until passage of the wire is completely restricted. A secondproblem is that friction of the wire through the passage results inheating of'the wire. This results in size variations and makes itdiflicult to form objects, such as springs, which require closetolerances. In addition to the above listed difliculties, it is oftendesired to color the wire for purposes of coding, decoration, orprotection. Also, it may often be desirable to introduce a lubricantinto the quill to expedite passage of the wire and its manipulation bythe forming tools.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide animproved wire quill particularly suited for a wire forming machine.Other objects are to provide such a quill which includes provisions fordislodg-ing particles of foreign material from the wire passage; forcoloring the wire; for lubricating the wire; and for readily cleaningand flushing the quill. Other objects, features,

and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the followingdescription, the appended claims, and the figures of the attacheddrawing, wherein:

I FIG. 1 is a front view of a wire forming machine equipped with theimproved quill of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the machine of FIG. 1, non-essentialportions being broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of a portion of the machineofFIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating the quill'of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;and

FIG. 6 shows two elements comprising part of the .quill of thisinvention, separated to illustrate details of their construction.

.The objects of this invention are achieved in a general sense byprovidinga quill having a wire passage therethrough and a fluid passagecommunicating with the wire passage.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a wire forming machine 10which is adapted to form a length of wire W into a predeterminedconfiguration, such as that of a coiled tension spring. The machinecomprises a face slanted reservoir 70 3,376,722 Patented Apr. 9, 1968the referenced patent and need not be further described herein.

The wire W initially passes through felt or other suitable material 26;if desired, material 26 may be oil soaked waste or the like to lubricatethe wire at this time. It then passes around a first feed roll 28 whichcooperates with a second feed roll 30 to grip the wire and feed it intothe rear end of a quill 32 constiucted in accordance with thisinvention. The mounting of quill 32 and its relationship to the faceplate 12 and wire forming tools T, T is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The faceplate 12 is provided with a raised boss 34. Both the face plate 12 andthe boss define a threaded opening into which is screwed a split tube36. Tube 36 includes a slit opening 38 extending along a portion of itslength. The quill 32 is slid into split tube 36 and a clamping nut 40 isscrewed onto the end of tube 36' so as to compress the tube and tightlygrip the quill.

The quill 32 of this invention is made up of four distinct parts, whichare clearly illustrated in FIGS. 3-6. These parts include a main bodyportion 42 which is essentially tubular in shape. The rear end of body42 is provided with a taper 44 on opposite sides which enable it to fitbetween the feed rolls 28, 30. Body 42 has an enlarged bore 46 extendinginwardly a short distance from its forward end and communicating with asmall bore 48 extending to the rear of main body 42. The juncturebetween the small and large bores forms an annular shoulder 50.

A wire-forming end piece 52 is seated against the shoulder 50. One endof the end piece 52 is cylindrical in shape so as to fit snugly withinthe large bore 46. The other end is flattened to provide working spacefor the tools T, T. End piece 52 includes an inner passage 54 forreceiving the wire W and feeding it to the tools.

The small bore 48 encloses a core C made up of a pair of matchingsemi-cylindrical half cores 56, 58 which are illustrated in FIG. 6. Eachof half cores 56, 58 is provided with a curved taper 60 at its wirereceiving end so as to fit closely between the Wire feed rolls 28, 30,as illustrated in FIG. 3. The flat inner side of each of half cores 56,58 is provided with a semi-cylindrical groove 62 which, when mated, forma close fitting elongated substantially uniform diameter continuous wirepassage through the center of core C. Along the mating edges of one sideof each of the half cores 56, 58 there is provided a chamfer 64 whichextends along the major portion of its length but terminates short ofthe wire receiving end. Chamfers 64 cooperate to form an axiallyextending V shaped groove 66 along the outer'surface of core C which isdisposed wholly within the region enclosed by the main body 42. Theinner end of each of the half cores 56, 58 is cut away as at 68 to forma radially extending which communicates with the wire passage formed bythe grooves 62.

A transverse opening 71 in the rear end of body 42 receives a fluidinlet line 72 and communicates with bore '48. As will be seen byreference to FIGS. land 2, the

fluid inlet line 72 is connected by means of a T 74 and a line 76through a metering valve 78 to the fluid outlet 80 of a fluid supplytank 82. The top of supply tank 82 is connected through a T 84 and apetcock 86 to a discharge line 88. T '84 is connected by means of line90 to another T 92. T 92 and 74 are interconnected by Several modes ofoperation may be employed with the apparatus of this invention. Forexample, it has been set forth in the above objects that one problemwhich the invention is designed to overcome is that of jamming of thewire due to flakes of coating which clog the wire passage in the quill.It has also been stated that it may be desired to provide means forcooling the wire passing through the quill so that it may be formed at alower temperature. Both these objects may be achieved by passing airthrough the quill. When this mode alone is employed, the supply line 98is capped and metering valve 78 and petcock 86 are closed. Air underpressure is then admitted to the system through the metering valve 96and flows through lines 94 and 72 to the quill illustrated in FIGS. 36.As will be seen from these figures, the air which enters the quill fromfluid supply line 72 passes through opening 71 and into the axial groove66. Air travels along the groove 66, entering reservoir 70, and thenpasses into the inner passage 54 in end piece 52 and the wire passageformed by grooves 62 around wire W. The air moving under pressureagitates and loosens any foreign matter, such as flakes of coatingmaterial, in the wire passage, and the mechanical motion of the wirecarries these loosened flakes out of the quill. At the same time, theair cools the wire W, thus achieving two of the objectives of thisinvention.

An alternative method of operation of the invention is to add a secondfluid to the air being fed to the quill. The second fluid may be, forexample, a liquid color, such as paint or dye, a lubricant or a liquidcoolant. The second fluid may be stored in supply tank 82. Properadjustment of the metering valve 78 permits the liquid second fluid toflow from tank 82 through line 76 and to become entrained in the airpassing into fluid inlet line 72. The second fluid flows into the quillby the same route previously described. It will also be noted that theconfiguration of the cutaway portions 68 which define the reservoir 70provide a pool of the second fluid at this location, through which theWire W passes. Thus, the wire becomes evenly coated as it passes intothe end piece 52.

The entire piping system and the quill may be easily cleaned byintroducing a suitable solvent into supply line 98. With valve 78 shutoff, the solvent is forced through the line 72 and the quill by thepressure of air from metering valve 96.

It will be apparent that the objects of this invention are admirablyachieved by the apparatus which has been herein described. It will alsobe apparent that a number of variations and modifications may be made inthe apparatus of the invention without departing from its spirit andscope. For example, a conventional spray gun mixing device may besubstituted for the mixing valve arrangement described. Further, theterm fluid is intended to encompass liquids and other fluid materials,such as gases and powdered solid materials. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription is intended to be illustrative only rather than limiting.This invention is limited only by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A quill for a wire forming machine which comprises: wire guide meansdefining an elongated, substantially uniform diameter continuous wirepassage therethrough and a fluid passage communicating with said wirepassage for introducing a fluid therein.

2. A quill for a wire forming machine which comprises: a sleeve having afirst end and a second end; a wire forming end piece contained partiallywithin said sleeve and extending from a first end thereof, said endpiece defining a first wire passage therethrough; and a core memberpositioned within said sleeve including first and second ends, the firstend of said core being in substantially abutting relationship with saidend piece, the second end of said core extending from the second end ofsaid sleeve, said core defining an elongated substantially uniformdiameter continuous second wire passage from its second end to its firstend, said first and second wire passages being aligned, said coredefining a fluid passage communicating with said first and second wirepassages.

3. The quill of claim 2 wherein said fluid passage communicates withsaid wire passage at the abutting ends of said end piece and core.

4. The quill of claim 2 wherein said core is substantially cylindrical,wherein said wire passage is axial of said core, and wherein said fluidpassage is formed between the outer surface of said core and the innersurface of said sleeve.

5. The quill of claim 2 wherein said core comprises first and secondsemi-cylindrical portions, said second wire passage and said fluidpassage being partially formed by each of said portions.

6. A quill for a wire forming machine which comprises: a tubular sleevehaving a first end and a second end; a wire forming end piece containedpartially within said sleeve and extending from the first end thereof,said end piece defining a first wire passage therethrough; first andsecond semi-cylindrical core members positioned within said sleeve andforming a cylindrical core having a first end abutting said end pieceand a second end extending from the second end of said sleeve, the flatsides of said core members defining an elongated substantially uniformdiameter continuous second wire passage axially of said core and alignedwith said first wire passage and further defining a fluid passage alongthe surface of said core parallel to said second wire passage, the firstend of said core being cut away to form a fluid reservoir between saidwire passage and said fluid passage; and fluid supply inlet meansconnected to supply fluid to said fluid passage.

7. A wire forming machine which comprises: wire forming tool meansselectively positionable to form a wire fed thereto; a quill positionedto guide a wire to said tool means defining an elongated substantial-1yuniform diameter continuous wire passage therethrough and a fluidpassage communicating with said wire passage; fluid supply means forsupplying a fluid to said fluid passage; and wire feed means arranged tofeed a wire through said quill.

8. The machine of claim 7 wherein said fluid supply means suppliescompressed air.

9. The machine of claim 7 wherein said fluid supply means supplies aliquid.

10. The machine of claim 7 wherein said fluid supply means supplies alubricant.

11. The machine of claim 7 wherein said fluid supply means supplies acoloring agent.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,026,103 5/1912 Moor 72---1 81,896,674 2/1933 Longwell 72--41 1,953,502 4/1934 Reimers 72-412,203,751 6/ 1940 Simons 72-45 2,909,209 10/1959 Ciccone et a1. 7243CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Examiner.

L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner.

1. A QUILL FOR A WIRE FORMING MACHINE WHICH COMPRISES: WIRE GUIDE MEANSDEFINING AN ELONGATED, SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM DIAMETER CONTINUOUS WIREPASSAGE THERETHROUGH AND A FLUID PASSAGE COMMUNICATING WITH SAID WIREPASSAGE FOR INTRODUCING A FLUID THEREIN.